Swapdom has added a home decor section for swapping, and I’ve listed a couple things in there too (see items up for swap here). They started with fashion, then added baby and kids’ gear, and now you can do home goods. I’ve requested a few items, and I’m waiting and hoping for a swap to come through.  If you’re not familiar with Swapdom, it’s a marketplace where you can find items you like, list items you want to move along, and the people over at Swapdom do all the work to arrange a multi-person swap, where everyone wins. All you pay is shipping and a small $1-$2 fee.

With the release of the new home goods section, the Swapdom Team created a 4-week event Tidy Challenge, which started on May 12th. This is to introduce Swapdom’s Home swapping category and encourage swappers to get excited about spring cleaning. Each week’s Team Tidy Challenge will focus on a part of the house to tackle, and of course, upload that stuff to Swapdom. One random person who uploads an item to each week’s featured category will win free shipping on their next swap. It’s a chance to organize your space, clear out the clutter, and reward yourself for work by swapping for great stuff you’ll actually use! You can get more info about the challenge here and sign up for Swapdom here.

Do you have some home goods you want to start swapping?

We have this really sweet neighborhood girl, Ella, that’s the same age as True, and she often comes over to say hello and bring the girls a treat. One time, True was feeling especially shy, and didn’t say a word to her. Ben and I were so frustrated because it came across rude. We know True isn’t being rude intentionally, but it’s just her shyness takes over, and it comes across that way. That moment prompted us to practice with all the girls how to greet someone at the door and just basic common manners when talking with someone.

We value her shyness, and know it’s part of her, but we also want to encourage her to still exercise politeness towards others. They pretend all the time to be this or that princess or hero, so this time we just took turns pretending to be our neighbor donned in their Belle and Elsa costumes (we got them from Target) and how courteous we should be when they come over to say hello. Brave was the first to pretend to be “Ella,” so she wore the Cinderella crown. She started knocking on the door, then we practiced the polite back and forth exchange of hellos and how are yous. True was still acting quite shy in the beginning, even with it just being her own sister, but we kept doing it until she felt comfortable, and she eventually got it.

To let them put into action their practice of being attentive and courteous, we’re going to go over to Ella’s this week and bring her a little thank you gift for the cupcakes she brought us last week. I didn’t want the girls to go over empty handed, so I taught the girls an easy way to make some crepe paper flowers, and they went town making her a little bouquet.

Crepe Paper Streamer Flowers

Supplies:
Crepe paper streamers
Pom poms
26 gauge floral wire
Floral stem tape
Wire cutter

Directions:
Cut (or rip) ten 5″ strips of crepe paper streamers, and layer them on top of each other (spread them out like a fan). Place a pom pom centered on top, cut out a 12″ piece of floral wire and center that on top of the pom. Bend the wire tightly behind the flower and twist, securing the pom and crepe paper strips in place. Spread out flower petals and fluff. Wrap the flower stem with floral tape, and add a 4″ piece of green crepe paper half way down the stem, then continue to wrap the rest of the stem.

I taught the kids how to make one, and they took it off with it and made a bunch more. They even surprised me and used their new flower making skills to make me a bouquet for Mother’s Day. Well, the girls are pretty excited to go over to Ella’s house and bring her the homemade bouquet of flowers, so I’m hoping our role playing will have them ready to put their politeness into action.

This post is sponsored by Target. More Princesses, More Sparkle: Blur the lines of fantasy and reality with your favorite Disney princesses at Target. Thank you for your continuous support of this space and the sponsors I work with! xoxo

ONE MORE WEEK! I can’t believe how fast May 20th is approaching, but on May 31st, we are having a par-tay to celebrate! It will be at the Oh, Hello Friend shop in Fullerton… there will treats, gifts for (but we only have a limited amount, so don’t be late and have your book!), and sweet tunes by Me & Mr. Cassidy. Of course, there will be books to purchase, but if you bring a previously purchased copy, that’s cool too, so don’t forget to show us your book to snag a gift bag.

I’m so thankful for all of you and I hope you’re able to come out and celebrate. I would love to meet you, give you a hug, and say thank you so much in person. You guys spend time here, share about this space, and so opportunities like this are made possible because of you. You are all part of this too and I’m truly so grateful.

So if you’re free on May 31st, from 5-7pm, stop by the Oh, Hello Friend shop! To be as prepared as possible, you can grab a ticket to the event here (there’s no cost), but we want to try and get an approximate head count. Bring your friends and family, the more the merrier!

Don’t forget if you pre-order, you can get a special pre-order pack, so if you haven’t, pre-order your copy here today!!!

xoxo,
Ruby

I wanted pumpkin waffles for my breakfast in bed. Check. A Mexican chocolate pie from The Pie Hole. Check. And for dinner, I wanted Ben to make langostino sopes. Check. Then, I got spoiled with lots of special handmade cards and gifts from the girls and Ben surprised me with a little Chinese money plant (I’m so thankful he pays attention to my pinterest). We had a wonderful family dinner together, and that happy, little, chocolate face is evidence of how yummy everything was. Obviously, the pie was her favorite.

The day was just so great, laid-back, and pretty much perfect. I even got some bit of quiet time to work on some things that I wanted to. Ben and I ended the evening watching the Veronica Mars movie, and I loved every bit of it. I love Logan and Veronica! #LoVe

I scored at my last trip to the thrift store and thrifted this denim dress. It was about 5 sizes bigger, and I just cut the sleeves a bit narrower, change the cut of the dress, made it shorter, and these couple of quick fixes gave me another nice basic. The dress was only $4, so I feel like I scored big time. I already wore the dress a few times last week, but decided it would also make the perfect Mother’s Day dress too.

On Saturday night, True slept in the clothes she was going to wear for Mother’s Day because she said she wanted to be ready early to help Ben make breakfast in bed for me. Totally funny and adorable! These girls of mine, I love them. Motherhood is like a roller coaster, exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time. Well, I love roller coasters, but if you’re just plain frightened of them, then that analogy wouldn’t work for you.

Honey-Lime Sweet Potato Black Bean Corn Tacos. Yes, make this. It’s so good! I think next time I’ll add more cayenne to the sweet potatoes, but even using the bean and sweet potato in a rice bowl is so delicious.

Slow Cooker Roast. It was a good basic and balanced meal. I changed up the recipe a bit because it seemed too boring for me, so I think it came out with more flavors with my changes. I’ll share it with you. I like how easy everything always is when you throw it in a crockpot, and Ben also liked how this meal automatically had a lot of veggies. I there were more carrots to meat the way I made it.

Week of 5/12 -5/16
Monday: Black Bean Bowls
Tuesday: Honey Chipotle Roast (using this recipe as a guide to play with)
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Baked Spaghetti
Friday: Sushi Night

Do you and your family eat out for dinner or do you prefer to stay home and cook? Obviously, we are a stay home and cook family, but we do go out to eat once a month. For a family of six, it can add up if we did it more than that, so we much prefer to eat at home. Thankfully though, my family likes my home cooking.

P.S. I think I’m going to stick with the simple white background. I might keep playing with it, but I like the simplicity of the white. Thanks for your input!